Winter wheat varieties responsiveness to soil and foliar fertilization

¹ Department of Plant Production, Technical University of Varna, Varna, Bulgaria
² Department of Manufacturing Engineering and Machine Tools, Technical University of Varna, Varna, Bulgaria

^* Corresponding author: mbakalova@tu-varna.bg

Abstract

Common winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) makes up more than half of the cereals grown in the European Union and in Bulgaria. For two years (2021-2022) a field experiment was carried out at the experimental plain of the Department of Plant Production at the Technical University of Varna. Two varieties of winter common wheat were grown, a selection of the Dobrudja Agricultural Institute - General Toshevo. The trial pattern included a variant without fertilization (control - Fert 0), a variant with combined foliar feeding and soil fertilization (Fert SF) and a variant with soil fertilization alone (Fert S). The effect of the way of fertilizing on the productivity and quality of winter common wheat was investigated. Grain yield (GY) and its structural elements - spike length (LMS), number of grains per spike (NGS) and grain weight per spike (WGS), weight per 1000 grains (TGW) and hectoliter weight (TestW) were determined. Biochemical analysis of the wheat grain was performed and the content of protein (Pr), starch (St) and ash substances (Ash) was determined. Fertilization has a strong effect on productivity and grain quality in winter common wheat (both alone and in combination with growing conditions). The method of fertilization has an effect on the productivity of winter common wheat - feeding with foliar fertilizers during the spring vegetation (in the tillering and booting phases) increases grain yield as a result of increasing each of the productivity components. The method of fertilization does not have a significant impact on the quality indicators of winter common wheat, with the exception of the hectoliter mass, whose values are proven to be higher during soil nutrition. The two studied Bulgarian varieties, Sladuna and Nikodim, differ from each other in their efficiency in relation to the way of feeding in the spring.